Enter a comma-separated list of keywords or phrases that best describe this object to make it more accessible during searches. Please check your spelling.

Label:As literacy rates soared in seventeenth-century Holland, letter-writing became a popular mode of long-distance communication, especially between lovers and married couples. Far-flung Dutch trading interests that frequently sent merchants and sailors abroad also increased the need to connect with loved ones at home. Here, the woman’s beaming expression suggests that she is pleased to receive the news contained in the letter she dangles from her hand.